Heather Bond Somers, a candidate for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, speaks to supporters in Groton, Conn. on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014. After a long wait for vote results on primary election day, Somers, a Groton Town Council member, was declared the winner of the three-way race on Wednesday, Aug 13th. less

Heather Bond Somers, a candidate for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, speaks to supporters in Groton, Conn. on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014. After a long wait for vote results on primary election ... more

Photo: Dana Jensen, The Day, Dana Jensen Via AP

Image 2 of 8

Heather Bond Somers, a candidate for the Republican nomination for Connecticut lieutenant governor, in Groton, Conn., to wait for election returns Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014. Somers was declared the winner of the three-way race on Wednesday. less

Heather Bond Somers, a candidate for the Republican nomination for Connecticut lieutenant governor, in Groton, Conn., to wait for election returns Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014. Somers was declared the winner of the ... more

Photo: Dana Jensen, The Day/Dana Jensen Via AP

Image 3 of 8

In this Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014 photo, Heather Bond Somers, a candidate for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, hugs childhood friend Tim Comstock as she arrives at a cafe in Groton, Conn., to wait with supporters for results on primary election day. Somers, a Groton Town Council member, was declared the winner of the three-way race on Wednesday. less

In this Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014 photo, Heather Bond Somers, a candidate for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, hugs childhood friend Tim Comstock as she arrives at a cafe in Groton, Conn., to ... more

In this Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014 photo, Heather Somers, right, with her husband, Mark Somers, at her side, speaks to supporters in Groton, Conn., after a long wait for results on primary election day. Somers, a Groton Town Council member, was declared the winner of the three-way race for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor on Wednesday. less

In this Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014 photo, Heather Somers, right, with her husband, Mark Somers, at her side, speaks to supporters in Groton, Conn., after a long wait for results on primary election day. Somers, a ... more

Photo: Dana Jensen, The Day/Dana Jensen Via AP

Image 7 of 8

Heather Bond Somers, a candidate for the Republican nomination for Connecticut lieutenant governor, arrives at a cafe in Groton, Conn., to wait with supporters for election returns Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014.

Heather Bond Somers, a candidate for the Republican nomination for Connecticut lieutenant governor, arrives at a cafe in Groton, Conn., to wait with supporters for election returns Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014.

Photo: Dana Jensen, The Day/Dana Jensen Via AP

Image 8 of 8

Somers emerges as GOP candidate for lieutenant governor

1 / 8

Back to Gallery

Former Groton Mayor Heather Somers on Wednesday cemented the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, but her narrow primary victory revealed a fractured GOP in Fairfield County and across the state.

Somers beat party-endorsed candidate and six-term state Rep. Penny Bacchiochi, of Stafford, and former U.S. Comptroller David Walker, of Bridgeport. Somers drew 27,083 votes, compared to 26,312 votes for Bacchiochi and 25,026 for Walker.

While the margin of victory -- 771 votes -- is under the 1,000 required for an automatic recount, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said the difference exceeds the recount threshold of one-half of 1 percent of total votes -- or 393 votes."Therefore, I have determined that there will be no statewide recount of the votes for lieutenant governor," Merrill said.

"If anything, this close election result stresses the point that every vote truly does count," Merrill said.

Somers thanked her supporters and quickly took aim at Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Somers will run with Tom Foley, the GOP nominee for governor, who lost to Malloy by about 6,000 votes four years ago. Polls show the Foley-Malloy rematch as too close to call.

"Now we have 12 weeks to turn our state around by electing Tom Foley as the next governor of Connecticut," Somers said.

"Tom and I will bring an outsider's approach to transforming Connecticut and reopening the state for business. We both come from a business background and will make the hard choices to get spending under control in Hartford," she said. "I am proud to join the Republican ticket to bring new leadership to Hartford and restore prosperity."

Somers, vice president of international sales and marketing for Hollister Inc. and has a background in medical devices, initially ran for lieutenant governor on a ticket headed by Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton as the candidate for governor. Somers later dropped out of the union, however, saying she could do better on her own.

Boughton turned to Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti and formed a new ticket, but both eventually dropped out of the primary. While all three lieutenant governor candidates -- Walker, Somers and Bacchiochi -- did well around their home bases, the results provide little insight other than displaying an undecided Republican electorate.

For example, Walker took his hometown of Bridgeport and polled close throughout Fairfield County. But he lost Stamford to Somers by almost 400 votes and came in third in Danbury, as Bacchiochi won by more than 400 votes.In Greenwich, one of the most Republican towns in the state and Foley's hometown, Somers beat Bacchiochi by only 50 votes. Walker came in third, losing to Somers by 142 votes.

Stratford was nearly a tie, with Bacchiochi beating Somers by six votes and Walker coming in third. Walker won Fairfield handily while the vote between Somers and Bacchiochi in Milford was close, with Somers winning by 47 votes.

Walker drew nearly twice the number of votes in Hartford as the other two candidates. On Wednesday afternoon, Walker said in the days leading up to the primary, internal polls showed him winning the race. But he said Somers went negative with mailers and ads and some of Foley's supporters began helping her campaign.

"There was also ballot confusion," Walker said, explaining that in some towns, Somers' name appeared next to John McKinney, who lost a bid Tuesday to take the GOP nomination for governor from Foley. Walker and McKinney, the state Senate minority leader from Fairfield, ran as a team.

"These are major things, the way I look at it," Walker said. "But I will support the ticket. I'm disappointed and surprised, but it's time to move on."

Bacchiochi conceded the vote by midday Wednesday and said she would not seek a recount.

"This was not the result we had hoped for, that we had worked so hard for, the last 17 months," she said. "But I fully accept the will of the Republican voters. I believe that the wisest decision for our party is to accept the results and get back to work on delivering a Republican victory in November,'' Bacchiochi said.

Jerry Labriola, the state Republican Party chairman, congratulated Somers and said the ticket is ready to take on Malloy.

"Our Republican team, led by Tom Foley and Heather Somers, has the experience and dedication we need to restore our economy and chart a new course for Connecticut's future," Labriola said.

Speaking at a news conference at his Trumbull regional campaign office Wednesday morning, Foley told reporters he had spoken to all three lieutenant governor candidates since Tuesday's primary.

All of them, he said, were "very qualified to be lieutenant governor."